The sky’s the limit: WorldSkills competitor Lisiate Hull, left, with Brandon Gillett before flying out to Canada.

JBS BORDERTOWN fitter and turner Lisiate Hull has been a problem solver from an early age and the skill has been his ticket to competing on the world stage in the job that he loves.

The 20 year-old JBS Bordertown staff member flew out last Friday with his expert Brandon Gillett to compete this week in the WorldSkills Competition 2022 Special Edition in industrial mechanics at Brampton, Ontario, Canada.

The WorldSkills international finals were to have been held in Shanghai, but due to infrastructure delays caused by China’s zero tolerance for COVID, the competition events have been spread throughout the world. They involve 62 skill competitions over 12 weeks in 15 countries and regions between 7 September and 26 November this year.

WorldSkills is the world championships of vocational skills and is held every two years in different parts of the world. The national WorldSkills championships is Australia’s biggest vocational education and excellence competition.

Lisiate competed regionally in South Australia to compete for the state and then win a gold medal in fitting at the 2021 WorldSkills National Championships last September to book his place for the international competition.

“It will be pretty unreal to go against the best in the world.”

Teams will also come from Canada, China Chinese Taipei, Japan, Korea, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Austria and Germany to compete after an opening ceremony today.

Lisiate’s world skills experience has also included meeting the Governor-General at the official teams announcement and a trip to Sweden to do some condition monitoring training.

From not liking school to an advanced diploma

Lisiate left school at the end of Year 11 in 2018 after expecting to study mechanical engineering after Year 12.

“But I realised that school wasn’t for me and I knew that there was an (apprenticeship) opportunity out at JBS as a fitter and turner, and I knew I could use that as a gateway to get my advanced diploma and still pursue the same career.”

He finished his TAFE Certificate III in engineering-mechanical trade in August 2019 and started his advanced diploma in mechanical engineering technology through the Engineering Institute of Technology this year. He finished his apprenticeship at JBS last year.

Lisiate still doesn’t like study, but recognises it’s about having the discipline to get it done. He will finish his diploma in July next year and then plans to get his degree in mechanical engineering while continuing in the meat industry.

“I’ve built some good relationships there.”

Trouble shooting from an early age

Lisiate admits his career choice was influenced by his father, Stephen Hull, the engineering manager at Western Australian processor V. & V. Walsh.

“Dad has been a mentor and a bit of an inspiration for me.”

Mr Hull said his son was interested in the way things work from a very young age.

“If I was doing anything in the garage he was always keen to help.”

Lisiate describes his international mentor Brandon Gillett as “a bit of a weapon.” Brandon won gold in the 2012 WorldSkills Australia National Competition while a fitter and turner at Boyne Smelters in Gladstone, Queensland.

In his world skills competition, Lisiate will have to do some milling, turning, electro-pneumatics and some welding. He said there is always something different to do at the JBS plant and the trend toward automation and robotics is making fitters and turners more valued.

“My best skill is probably trouble shooting.

“I definitely developed that through my apprenticeship at JBS,” he said.

“It’s purely the satisfaction of having an issue and then being able to resolve it – it’s one of the things I enjoy the most.

“Obviously, identifying an issue and coming up with the solution are two different things, but I enjoy the whole process.”